Suicide School
by MidnightsInsanity666
Summary: Everything was fine. Everything was perfect...Until people started dying. And now I'm afraid he'll be next. SasuNaru, whoot!
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning of a Tragedy

**Hi, guys! Yup, I'm finally getting on the ball with all these stories! Yay! I have about 20 to work on, so you'll have a lot to look forward to:grins:**

**Ummm, this one's based on the movie Suicide Circle (Or Suicide Club, if you prefer that name), and Tri-Rivers is actually a career center that my brother and I attend. I just made it into an all-boys' academy, that's all! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Sasuke and Kishimoto do.**

**Love me? Hate me? Wish someone would beat me to death with a bag full of kittens? Well then, scroll down and click the 'Submit Review' button on your left and tell me about it. Hint hint I want reviews. **

**Now, on to the story! Whooo**

The sound of slamming lockers and shouting students filled the pristine corridors of the Tri-Rivers Career Academy for Boys, echoing from the perfect white walls and spotless windows. There was a certain snobbish air to the place, but few of the academy's student body shared its holier-than-thou attitude, a surprising fact considering the sheer number of students in attendance….And the students who really were assholes were quite thoroughly afraid of the others.

Uzumaki Naruto was one of those 'others' that the prissy rich boys feared. A senior at the academy, he was disorganized, loud, and oftentimes quite rude, but his playful smile and stunning cerulean eyes had gained him quite a fan-base. His blonde hair stuck up in all directions and hung down past his ears, a violation of the school's strict dress code.

Boys attending Tri-Rivers were required to wear white Oxford button-down shirts and dark blue trousers, and Naruto was no exception, but he had a special knack for…spicing things up. Accessories such as impossibly loud orange nail polish and studded belts showed the side of him that only his outside friends were permitted to see.

Take Uchiha Sasuke, for example. The two boys had been best friends and extremely competitive rivals all throughout grade school, tossing playful banters and not-so-playful punches as they fought for a one-up on the other. Many nights were spent on the phone; Naruto joking about his buddy's duck-butt-esque hair, Sasuke retorting with a snort and some comment about the blonde's loud and annoying laugh.

Over their long friendship, their emotions had somehow grown from casual friendliness to burning love. Sasuke was the first to speak up about his feelings, his dark eyes serious as he searched the handsome blonde's face for any reaction. He was worried about changing their relationship for the worst, but to his relief, everything had worked out.

…And it didn't take long for Naruto to fall head-over-heels for the stunning raven, either. He was the reason he reached for his phone as soon as he woke up, the reason for every smile, every breath…Sasuke was everything to him, and presently, said blonde was searching through the thick crowd for his beloved.

"Teme!" He called out when he spotted the feminine raven saunter through the main doors of the academy, "Teme, over here!"

Sasuke smiled and weaved his way through the crowd, his slender body moving as gracefully as ever, his smooth, rich voice a welcome sound to the fox-boy's ears, "Sorry I'm late, Aniki locked himself in the bathroom again and I had to wait."

Uchihas has an insane habit of never going anywhere without looking perfectly drop-dead gorgeous, and the brothers rarely went a day without fighting over the all-important mirror.

Naruto, of course, thought it was insanely hilarious. But, hell, he wouldn't complain. Sasuke looked fucking hot no matter what he did, but the fact that he put so much extra effort into his appearance just made him all the better in the blonde's eyes.

He snickered a bit and kissed his boyfriend's cheek, a sudden shit-eating grin plastered on his face. "I forgive you."

"I wasn't worried that you wouldn't, dobe."

The young blonde pouted cutely and sniffled. "Maaaa, doesn't Sasuke-kun wuv meh anymore?"

Sasuke twitched, finding the look extremely adorable but even more annoying. "I never said that, now did I?" He rolled his eyes and slipped an arm around his lover's thin but muscular shoulders, pulling him against his chest, "Besides, you already know the answer."

"Do I?" Naruto wiggled his brows suggestively.

Heaving a sigh, the taller male flicked the tip of his boyfriend's nose, "Shush, dobe."

"Hey, don't go shushing me, teme!" The shorter student whined, but any further words were cut off as another male came walking up to them, his dark eyes and pale features so much like Sasuke's. Itachi had taken on a job as an English teacher at Tri-Rivers at the beginning of the school year.

….Of course, he was the strictest (but smartest) teacher employed there.

"Aniki?" Sasuke looked up at his brother, noticing immediately the stressed expression on the weasel's young face, "Is something wrong?"

The teacher sighed and pretended to inspect the flawless polish on his nails. He wasn't bothered by much, and even then it was almost impossible to tell, but his face was paler than usual, the bags under his eyes more prominent and dark.

All these signs told the younger Uchiha that his brother was upset over something, even before Itachi opened his mouth to speak.

"Six more."

While Sasuke looked surprised, Naruto stood confused.

"…Teme, what's he talking about?" _Am I missing something here?_

Itachi looked over at the blonde, brows furrowed, "You haven't heard of the suicides recently? Seventeen kids so far have died, just in this school alone." The usual mocking tone in the elder Uchiha's voice wasn't present, something that quite disturbed the other two males, "And this morning six students unhooked their seatbelts on a rollercoaster and killed themselves."

Sasuke almost shivered at the image playing in his mind; an image of blood, people screaming, the coaster unable to stop as the ones who hadn't reached the ground from the fall were run over.. He reached for his lover's hand and squeezed, his pale lips in a tight line. So far no one he'd known had died, but….

_What if Naruto…._He didn't let himself finish the thought, instead choosing to place his free hand on his Aniki's shoulder as a sort of comforting gesture, "Isn't anybody doing anything about it?"

The long-haired Uchiha shook his head slowly, eyes barely hinting his frustration and worry, "What can we do? The police are investigating; Mom and Dad were assigned to work the case, but it's hard to look after hundreds of students at once." Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha both worked side-by-side as detectives in the city, and Sasuke had plans to follow their footsteps, but he constantly had to stop and ask himself what he'd do if he was on a case like that….

_I couldn't do it….._

Naruto looked over at his teme, noticing how the teen trained his eyes on the floor and gnawed at his lower lip, a gesture that usually meant he was either deep in thought or concerned, "when did you hear about this, Itachi?"

"Just this morning, when I arrived," The taller male said, then added, "but no one else is to know. People obviously are aware of the deaths by now, but if you fill them in on everything that's happened, we'll have a cult on our hands."

"Isn't that what this is now?" Sasuke asked, looking up.

"Too early to say for sure," came the simple reply. Itachi sighed and looked over his shoulder to see another of the teachers, a woman with blonde hair, beckoning to him. "Excuse me."

Naruto watched him walk off, then turned his attention to his boyfriend, "Oi, Teme?"

"Hmmm, what is it?"

The blonde began busily fiddling with one of the bracelets on his wrist, his clear eyes showing worry and confusion, "I…I just don't understand why someone would want to do that….Take their lives, I mean. It's so….I mean, what if…"

He wasn't allowed to finish, because a certain raven swooped in and kissed him softly. Naruto was usually a very strong person, but when he was worried or scared, it was the raven's job to protect and soothe him.

"Just don't think about it," said Uchiha told him, "I'm sure they'll get everything worked out."

"Yeah, but--"

Sasuke pouted childishly and flicked him on the nose for the second time that day, "No buts. Just focus on your school work, and I'll take you out somewhere special tonight, okay?"

"Sasuke--" _It's you I'm worried about….._

"Hush, moron. I'll write you in English."

The first bell shattered any attempt at a reply, and Sasuke gave him a quick peck on the lips, "Gotta go, love you." He turned and jogged away, leaving a blinking Naruto standing there.

_Teme…I'm afraid you'll be next….._


	2. Chapter 2: Demy

**Um...Heh. It took a lot longer to update this than I thought. Gomen, gomen, I've been really busy, and I ended up re-writing this about seven times. I'm still not completely happy with it, but oh well.**

**  
Hopefully you'll see the next chapter up this Sunday--I'm going on a trip this weekend and I'll have a lot of time on my hands.**

**  
Thanks to you guys who haven't left me for dead! I love you all!**

"_Just focus on your school work…."_

Those words buzzed in Naruto's mind like some annoying fly, one that he couldn't kill because the damn thing was just so fucking persistent. Focus? He wished he could, but….  
_  
But Sasuke never blows me off just like that….He always tells me when something's bothering him….We've always been so open, so why's he shutting me out now…?_

"Uzumaki!" A deep voice snapped the blonde from his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder to see a friend from his first period gym class staring at him like he was completely insane, one chocolate eyebrow raised, "Get you ass in gear, you're gonna be late!"

As if on cue, a bell's shriek echoed from the now empty halls, but to Naruto it was the sound of punishment and extra laps. _Fuck…_

He sighed and hurried to catch up with the other boy, having trouble keeping in step with the brunette's long stride.

"Don't worry," the boy told him, "I got this covered. Just follow my lead." White teeth glistened between pink lips in a cocky grin, the look of a trouble maker. Of a brilliant liar. Good old Inuzuka Kiba to the rescue.

Naruto couldn't help but to return the smile, "You got it."

They turned a corner and slipped into the gymnasium, almost literally slamming into their brick-wall of a teacher. He stared down at them with all the malice of a scorned python, his golden eyes flashing a look of pure, unbridled contempt.

"Uzumaki, late as usual," he spat out, completely ignoring the second boy, " I'd rather you not come at all than to show up and disrupt the class with your…_.delayed timing_." The teacher's voice had a sort of hissy, breathless quality to it; all too fitting for the snake-like bastard.

The blonde bit down on his tongue and looked over to Kiba, blue eyes begging for an excuse to let everything go and bust their teacher in his grotesquely pale face. He really could go for a good beat-down.

"Sorry," his friend said, "But Naruto dropped his books in the hallway and I stopped to help him pick them up."

"Well, aren't you just a model citizen,_ Inuzuka_?" The teacher asked, his voice dripping with poison as it uttered the name.

The one referred to as Inuzuka snorted and let a grin slip onto his face, dangerous and challenging, "You make it sound as if I'm not, Orochimaru-sensei." Orochimaru had spoken with venom on his lips, but Kiba's voice was deceptively innocent, like a teddy bear with a bomb strapped to its furry back.

The snake narrowed his yellow orbs and looked at each of them in turn, his upper lip curling in a vicious, silent snarl, "Get dressed, the both of you. Instead of joining the others in today's activity, you'll be running laps the entire period. If _either_ of you slow down or stop for any reason, you will be doing the same thing for the rest of the semester, do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes _sir_!" Naruto yelled, throwing a hand up in a mock salute, much to Kiba's amusement and Orochimaru's annoyance.

"C'mon, private, we've pissed him off enough now," the dog-lover said to him, pushing his body forward with a punch to the shoulder. They both laughed and walked off into the locker room, nudging each other with matching grins.

Orochimaru's scowl darkened as he watched them go, pale fingers curling against stone-cold palms. He didn't like it when a student defied him, and hated it even more when that student's name happened to be Naruto.

_Inuzuka doesn't matter_, he told himself, _His fate is sealed. But Uzumaki….Perhaps I can change his attitude a little as well….._

One by one boys dressed in the school's gym uniform filed into a line, awaiting their teacher's orders.

Nobody fucked with Orochimaru.

He would learn that.

OooOCome fly with meOooO

"Thanks for covering for me back there, man," Naruto told Kiba as he busily worked the combination to his locker, blonde eyebrows knitted together in concentration. He never was good with those damn things, and currently the door refused to open, despite his best efforts to coax it otherwise.

"No problem," the dog-lover said, pulling a pair of blue shorts and a grey t-shirt from the bag in his own locker. He looked over to the smaller teen and grinned, noticing the look of annoyance on the tanned face as he attempted to open the god-forsaken contraption by repeatedly slamming his foot against the hard metal.

Naruto could be so helpless sometimes.

"You're doing it wrong again," Kiba nudged him out of the way and twisted the knob on the lock, "Gimme your combo."

The dobe pouted, "What, so you can jack my shit?"

"Ummm, no. Do you want this open or not?"

At a loss for words, Naruto recited the numbers, but not without a small glare,…_Jerk._

The door came open without any resistance at all, and Kiba stepped away, a grin splitting across his face, "You're welcome."

Naruto blinked, slightly embarrassed that his friend could open it without a problem at all, and stepped up to pull out his belongings, "Umm, thanks."

The other boy snorted and began to remove his regular uniform, pulling on the gym clothes, "What, no comment about how you loosened it up for me or something?. Che, what's with you today? You're so out of it."

_Am I…?_ The blonde frowned and shook his head, "I dunno, probably just tired." He said simply as he unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off, revealing his lightly-muscled chest for a fraction of a second before pulling the grey one on.

Kiba wasn't ready to drop the subject, however, "What, are you worn out from having a wild night of hot gay sex with the Uchiha again?"

The smaller boy's face turned a deep shade of scarlet, his voice slightly high-pitched, louder than usual, "_Kiba_! You know f-for a fact that we've never done anything like t-that!"

Naruto was usually quite the pervert, until the topic of him and Sasuke came up into a conversation. In mere seconds he would turn into a sputtering, blushing sixteen-year old schoolgirl, complete with annoying giggles that could rival even the Prep Princess Sakura's.

Faking surprise, the chocolate-haired student stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide, "REALLY?! C'mon, you can't actually tell me that you guys don't jump each other as soon as you're alone!"

"S-shut up! You know we don't, so shut up!"

Kiba chuckled a bit and shook his head, "Chill out, I was joking you spaz." He finished dressing and shoved his discarded clothing into the duffel bag, "Hurry up, we gotta get going."

"Alright, sure." _Dickface._

OooOCome Fly With MeOooO

Forty-five minutes later, a panting and tired Naruto emerged from the gymnasium and joined the stream of students in the hallway, his golden bangs half-glued to his forehead by sweat, a stack of textbooks cradled in his right arm.

_Holy shit, that was harder than I thought it'd be…._

Even though he was a hyper and extremely active, the small blonde was somewhat lacking in the endurance department, and running nonstop for half an hour certainly wasn't an easy task for him. His lungs burned with every breath, protesting the unfair treatment they had been dealt.  
_  
Goddamn it, I fucking hate this school….._

All he wanted to do now was go home and take a long nap, maybe cuddle with Sasuke, but with seven more periods to go, he wasn't getting one anytime soon.

Sasuke. He really wanted to see him now…

…But what would he say? Would Sasuke just blow him off again like earlier?

"Only one way to find out," Naruto said under his breath. He shifted his books to a more comfortable position and set a course for his boyfriend's locker.

He'd get Sasuke to open up or die trying.

OooOCome Fly With MeOooO

"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun!" The red-haired boy greeted as he made his way to him, smiling his sickly sweet, evil little smile. He smelled of some popular new cotton-candy perfume and strawberry lip-gloss, both scents overpowering in their own ways.

The boy had on the usual school uniform, but anyone who had talked to him previously knew that outside of the Academy he was a proud cross-dresser. It was obvious in the way he swung his hips, and the way his fiery locks were always pulled into a high, feminine ponytail.

_ If it wasn't against dress code he'd probably wear skirts and fishnets to school everyday_, Sasuke thought. He felt nauseous already, and not just because of the cross-dresser's smell. "Oh, hi Demy," the raven muttered unhappily, not too fond of the boy.

Demy giggled and leaned against a neighbouring locker, hugging his books to his chest in what the Uchiha assumed was his way of faking shyness, because a kid like Demy was never shy. If he wanted something, he was blunt and unrelenting; wasting no time in letting the world know about the object of his desire…

…And currently, a certain raven just happened to be that object.

"Your hair looks amazing today," the red-head told him, fingering the silky black locks with another annoying giggle.

_I hate it when people touch my hair…_, Sasuke thought as he drew away from the pretty boy. He was quite irritated by the kid's constant flirting, but it seemed like nothing he said could get through to him, not even when the Uchiha flat-out told him that he had no intention of ever being his lover.

_How do you call off a bulldog with red hair…?_ "Umm, yeah. Sorry, but I've gotta run,"

He turned and walked away, but Demy wasn't one to give up so easily, " I'll go with you, then, since our classes are in the same hallway." He blushed and fell into step by his side, too close for Sasuke's comfort.

"Umm…"

"Teme, hey…" Naruto suddenly walked up to the two students and took the Uchiha's hand, blue eyes hazy and glazed. He looked like he was going to faint--but somehow he had on the usual goofy grin….Albeit a little forced.

"Hi, Naruto!" Demy flashed him a cheerful smile and waved. He seemed to be completely oblivious of Naruto's current mood, but that wasn't anything new, was it?

The blonde glanced at him and nodded in reply. He rested his forehead on Sasuke's firm chest and closed his eyes, too tired to really speak more than he needed. Why waste his breath on a guy like Demy anyway?

"I thought you'd never come," the handsome raven said. His pale lips were drawn in a deep frown of curious worry as he enveloped the smaller boy in the safety of his arms, _He's breathing so hard…._ "Hey, dobe, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired," Naruto panted.

"I can't wait for our date tonight," Sasuke told him, leaning close to steal a tender kiss from his lips.

Demy furrowed his perfect eyebrows as he watched the two lovers, _What does Sasuke see in that kid, anyway…? Why doesn't he love me….?_


	3. Chapter 3: My Darling Innocent

**Oh god...I know I promised this a long time ago, but I've been really busy, and my friend and I got into a fight, which killed my muse. This is shorter than I would've liked, but I'll make up for it next chapter, I swear. Please forgive me! :cries:**

Chapter Three: My Darling Innocent

Naruto's azure eyes stared boredly past the open window by his desk, watching transparent waves of heat ripple up from the sun-baked parking lot. He fiddled absently with one of the bracelets on his wrist and yawned, obviously far from interested in what the English teacher had to say.

_I'm Japanese, dammit, _he thought, _Why does this stupid school make us learn English, anyway? I doubt I'm ever leaving this shit-hole, so it's kind of pointless….._

"Uzumaki-san, are you paying attention?" A soft yet stern voice asked, and Naruto tore himself from the window to look at the small woman standing by his desk. She was a timid, mousy looking thing, but far from a pushover. As if to remind him of this fact, she stared down at him expectantly, lips drawn into a taunt line. She, unlike the others, wasn't fooled or intimidated by the blonde's unruly ways, and he knew it. But it didn't mean that he acted any differently in her presence.

"Of course not," He said simply. Beside him, he heard Sasuke snort and several other classmates snicker. The teacher's eye twitched a bit, but she was used to the boy's antics. Naruto always acted like he had something to prove, like he was tough and invulnerable, but the small woman had studied him enough to have a fairly decent understanding of how he functioned--which is to say, hardly at all. It was like he lived life on auto-pilot, and attention was his only fuel. Unless you counted Sasuke.

_You're still hurting, aren't you Naruto…?_ She thought as she turned and walked back to the chalk board, _Even after all this time, I can still see the anger and fear you hold inside…You still haven't gotten over your mother's death, have you? It was such a highly publicized ordeal, after all…._

Ten years ago, no one had heard of Uzumaki Kushina. No one had heard of how, she-along with sixty other women-threw herself from a nearby cliff. No one knew of the little boy who had been clutched in his mother's arms as she fell, except for the select few in charge of the case.

Of course, everyone knew the next day. But for one fleeting moment, all was right with the world. There was no death, no sorrow, no pain. A young boy was being hugged by his mother as they surveyed the breathtaking view that the precipice offered. A beautiful, pure, unscarred little boy with golden hair and crystal-blue eyes….

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

"_M-mom….." Naruto shifted in Kushina's arms, twisting his small body this way and that to inspect the vast canyon below. He chewed on his lower lip nervously, clung to the heavy fabric of her bright kimono._

"_Hush, Naruto."_

"_Mom, I'm scared."_

_The woman tightened her grip about him, "You'll be okay, sweetie."_

_A screaming gust of wind slapped his face, stealing the breath from his trembling frame. The other women around them paid no attention, just focused on the ground so far away. Naruto didn't like this. Not at all. He felt as if some cruel monster had gripped his chest and was trying to smother him, only to realize that it was not a monster at all. It was his mother's arms, crushing his tiny body painfully against her heaving chest._

_Struggling for breath, the child let out a tiny whimper and squirmed once more. She hardly seemed to realize his difficulty, but after a lengthy amount of time she relaxed her hold so that he could breathe more freely. _

"_Mommy, lemme down, I don't like it here." _

_When she didn't respond, the child began to feel panic grip him in a way he couldn't explain. All he knew was that he had to get away before something happened. Something bad. Adrenaline and confusion coursed through his veins like blood, churning his stomach into a tight knot._

"_Mommy! Let me go!" He yelled, trying to pry himself away with his hands. Kushina simply pulled him closer, and no matter how hard he tried Naruto just couldn't free himself from her grasp. _

"_Please, Mommy, please! Lemme go! I'm scared!"_

"_Come on, Naruto," his mother said cheerfully, just before she stepped over the edge of the cliff, "Come fly with me."_

XxXx

The first body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Blood sprayed up like thin paint, splattering onto the half-open window and raining on the startled students unfortunate enough to be nearby. Naruto shot up from his chair with a yell, crimson droplets streaming down his face like tears.

The chaos that followed seemed to erupt throughout the entire room. People were screaming, desperately trying to get away from the window but at the same time looking behind them to see what had happened.

Sasuke threaded his way through the frightened crowd and reached his boyfriend, but before he could so much as even utter his name, another body dropped down onto the pavement. Naruto flinched at the sound, eyes squeezed tight againt the panic and gore around him, his hands covering his ears.

"Dobe…" Fighting to keep calm, Sasuke reached out and grabbed the blonde's left wrist, "C-come on, let's get out of here…"

Several of the weaker-stomached boys had begun to vomit. The acrid smell of bile and blood was like a morbid perfume, an unmistakable tribute to death itself. Desperate to spare his love from further horror, the Uchiha gave the hand a sharp tug.

"Move!" He hissed fiercely.

Naruto followed him as if in a trance. Their shoes slid and squelched on the foul liquid marring the floor, and they hadn't even reached the door before the blonde pulled away from Sasuke and contributed to the pile of vomit.

"Come on Naruto, just a little further…" The raven urged, wrapping an arm around Naruto's quivering shoulders, "Come on, try and make it…."

Shouts and yells greeted them from every direction. Sasuke couldn't see anything but the disorienting blur of people running about. And that _smell….._

_We have to get out…Oh, god, I've gotta get him out of here…._

He half dragged, half carried Naruto out into the hallway before he collapsed onto the shiny tile. Sweat had glued his bangs to his forehead and cheeks and his breath seemed like more of a scream in his ears, punctuated with the irregular rhythm of his heart.

Naruto, he realized dimly, still hadn't finished throwing up. He did so with wrenching sobs, barely able to support himself on weak hands and useless knees. The Uchiha slowly rolled over onto his back and pushed a hand through his matted locks.

…_.What the hell just happened? _Sasuke shuddered. His stomach felt like hot metal, burning a hole completely through his body. He wanted to jump up, to run away, to escape…But Naruto needed him now.

"Dobe, are you okay?" The raven asked. His lover had apparently finished vommitting and lay curled up and shivering against the wall. He was crying with his face pressed into his knees, thin fingers digging into his own scalp.

"Dobe…" Sasuke whispered softly as he forced himself to get up and kneel beside the frightened blonde. He pulled the smaller male against his body and held him tightly, rocking from side to side just a bit, "It's okay, Naruto," He whispered into his ear, "Everything's going to be fine. Just calm down…."

"_Sasuke!" _A female voice called out, followed by the echo of boots hitting tile. Sasuke looked up to see his mother running towards them, with his father not far behind. It had always fascinated the youngest Uchiha that his beautiful, sweet mother was so tough when it came to police work, but now he only saw worry and fear etched onto her delicate features.

She reached the boys and kneeled at their side to place kisses all over them both, "Oh, I'm so glad you're both okay! I was so afraid that you'd-"

"Just get them out of here, Mikoto!" Sasuke's father barked out, "We've got work to do."

The raven-haired beauty looked over to glare at her husband, but he had already disappeared into the classroom. She was just _so_ happy that they were alright….But she understood that others had to be helped, not just her youngest son and Naruto. "Okay. Come with me, boys, we'll get you cleaned up-"

Neither boys made a move to follow Mikoto as she rose to her feet.

"Sasuke? Naruto? Come on…." Fearing some undiscovered injury or ailment, the pale woman placed a hand on her son's shoulder and shook. The raven teen's eyes met those of his mother, almost exactly mirroring the worry in her own.

_Naruto…._The realization didn't quite shock Mikoto much; she had been on the scene the day his mother died. He was so small then…innocent. He had been so terrified that for two whole months after the incident the case-worker in charge of him was lucky if she could get him pried out from under the bed long enough to see if the deep scratches on his face were healing correctly.

And now, looking down at the blonde, the Uchiha woman saw the same wide-eyed shock in him that she'd seen ten years ago. Sasuke rocked him slowly, whispering soothing words of comfort as he held the other boy protectively to his chest.

The raven caught his mom's eye again, and now she could see the pleading look in his eyes.

(_help him)_

"We have to get out of here," Mikoto told the boys, although she was sure only Sasuke really heard. She helped him to his feet and reached down to pick Naruto up, but her son was already pulling the blonde from a sitting position. Sasuke was so strong now, so full of life. It was still hard for his mother to believe that not so long ago leukemia had almost taken that life away.

But his muscles were built well; they could easily hold up the slight form of the smaller male.

_It's part of your nature, isn't it? _Mikoto asked inwardly. _You both have saved each other. You both have lived for each other. You've always been protective of him, you've never trusted anyone else to help him the way you can….It's because they can't, can they?_

"Let's go, Okasan…" The youngest Uchiha said shakily, snapping the female officer from her thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4: Naruto's Challenge

**Woot! Chapter four, and I put this up just a few days after my last one! :amazed: Ha, I'm so happy. This chapter is….sad. And…just….cute. And…in the past. Naruto seems a bit bi-polar in the beginning, but oh well. **

**And I'm loving how pretty much everyone thinks Demy's a creep.**

**But…on another note, to all you who somehow think Naruto's a part of the suicides…I'm going to kick you hard in the groin. No, no, I'm not really. Who knows? Maybe he is part of the suicides. You'll just have to read and find out. **

**Oh, and random shout-out to VanityWantsYou, whose stories pretty much inspired me to write in the first place. :grins:**

(Come.Fly.With.Me)

A few years ago, it had been Naruto who carried Sasuke around. It had been Naruto who tried to distract the raven from painful chemotherapy and despair with his bright, sunny smile and charming antics. Sure, there was Itachi, and Mikoto and Fugaku, but when they were at work or at home, little Naru-chan was the one sitting by the hospital bed.

Their friendship had been a turbulent one at first, of course it was. They were so different, weren't they? Following the death of his mother, Naruto had come to live with the Uchihas in their sprawling estate just outside the village, and almost immediately the raven disliked everything about the little dobe. He shared a room with Sasuke, and kept him awake every night with his sniffles and sobs. Instead of sleeping on the bed the blonde slept under it, rarely coming out unless it was to eat, and even then he ate in hiding.

Even at age eight the little boy wasn't toilet-trained. He could barely write his own name, much less read. There were cuts and bruises on his face that never seemed to go away, plus his hair stuck up wildly like it had decided it didn't like him, either. Sasuke looked upon his room-mate like some sort of annoying little dog--never speaking to him, never paying attention unless it was to shove him out of the way.

Naruto never fought the taller raven's coldness. He knew his place. The ways of the world were cruel, he'd learned that lesson well.

….And then Sasuke got sick.

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

It started with a bruise on the inside of his right arm, deep and ugly and painful. Once a thriving and cheery boy, the youngest Uchiha became fatigued and irritable. His skin paled and took on a wax-like appearance. The beautiful eyes his mother had given him grew dull and sunken. His athletic muscles began to diminish, allowing the brittle bones to poke just under the paper-thin flesh. Mikoto noticed her son's condition and grew concerned, but it wasn't until the nosebleeds that she began to fear for her younger son's life. Blood constantly clogged his throat; he could no longer sleep laying down for fear of drowning in the thick liquid pooling in his mouth.

Sasuke's mother called off work one day and took her sickly child to the hospital, a shy and quiet Naruto trailing behind as she carried the little boy into the emergency room. Almost immediately after their arrival, the raven had been whisked away from his mom for a series of tests. She had wanted to go with him, but the doctors wouldn't allow it.

Nervous and worried, Mikoto sat bolt upright in the stark hospital room, wringing her delicate hands together. Naruto cautiously inched up to the woman and tugged at the hem of her shirt, his sad, innocent eyes staring deep into hers.

"Is Sasu-Teme gonna be okay?" the blonde asked in a small voice.

Mikoto offered a smile to the child and wrapped her arm around his petite frame, speaking to him in a soothing tone, "Yes, honey, Sasuke will be fine. He's just not feeling well, that's all."

Naruto grinned brightly, and his foster mother was amazed at how natural the expression seemed, even when she had never seen him smile or even speak. She was happy that he'd finally felt safe enough to do such things. It was… comforting to see him relaxed. Just the thing she needed.

"Naruto," the Uchiha whispered deviously, like there was some great big secret between the two of them, "How would you like to buy Sasuke a get well present?"

He gave a little nod, looking up at her hopefully, "Can I, Sasu-teme's mommy? Can I?"

"Of course, sweetheart." With that, Mikoto pressed a small coin purse into the child's hands. He looked down seriously at it, feeling its solid weight in his palm, "…What should I get him…?"

Mikoto laughed softly. "I'm sure he'll like anything you buy for him, Naruto. Do you know where the gift-shop is?"

The blonde gave a short, determined nod.

"Good. Hurry along now, Sasuke could be back any second."

Naruto suddenly whooped and shot out of the room, nearly bowling several nurses and an elderly woman over. He dodged their presence with an agility previously unshown, running full-tilt for the small gift-shop down the hall….and smacking face-first into the door.

"Owowowowowwwww!" He landed on his ass and clutched his throbbing nose. Tears of pain filled his pretty baby-blues as he whimpered and prodded it with a delicate touch.

"A-are you o-okay…?" A soft, timid voice asked. Naruto looked around and saw a little girl about his age with raven hair and a beige cast on her right arm. She had large, round eyes and a cute button nose, and her pale skin was dusted with a heavy crimson blush.

"Yup," Little Naru said as he picked himself up off of the floor and brushed the seat of his pants, "Didn't hurt much."

The timid child took a small step forward, inspecting the damage to his nose. She had the look of a frightened doe, ready to spring back and run at the slightest indication of danger.

"What'dja do to your arm?" he asked, eyeing her bulky cast with curiosity.

"N-N-Nothin" She replied, shifting her broken arm behind her back a bit. "W-What's you-r name?"

"I'm Naruto!" The boy gave a friendly grin, "Who're you?"

"H-Hinata."

"Are you here because you're sick?" Naruto asked her. She shook her head. "Oh. Well, are you feeling better now?"

A nod.

"That's good. Sasu-Teme's sick, that's why I'm here. I'm gonna buy him a get-well present!" He said this with a proud stance, puffing out his narrow chest and smiling widely. Hinata giggled, hiding her mouth behind a delicate hand.

"I d-don't want to k-keep you, N-N-Naruto-K-kun. I h-hope he likes-s your p-present!" With that, the shy little girl turned and ran off down one of the corridors, and before he could respond, she rounded a corner and was gone.

_She was weird_, the blonde thought as he opened the door and walked into the shop,_ but in a good way_… a tiny bell tinkled over his head. The place was pretty averaged-sized, but to a kid like Naruto, the rows of stuffed animals and brightly-coloured flowers seemed so huge…Like they could swallow him completely. It excited the child, made his lovely grin grow even wider.

"Can I help you with something?" A tall, friendly-looking man asked.

Naruto opened his mouth, paused, and closed it again. _I wanna get him something good…_

Finally discovering his voice, the child fidgeted restlessly, "Sasu-teme's sick, and I'm trying to find him something he'll like…"

The shopkeeper smiled and knelt down to his tiny customer's level. He was such a cute kid. "Okay, well, tell me some things about him, and we'll see what we have."

The little boy thought for a second. "Umm…he's really pale, and kinda quiet most times, and he's always got this look on his face." Naruto furrowed his brows and scowled darkly as he did his best impersonation of Sasuke, but the expression was more comical than serious.

Chuckling softly, the store owner nodded. "Okay, let's see what we can find…"

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Ten minutes later, a very excited Naruto left the shop cradling his room-mate's present in both skinny arms. After much deliberation, he had finally picked out the perfect gift: a medium-sized teddy bear with little patch-work squares on his stomach and a cute red polka-dot bow around his neck.

_Sasu-teme's gonna be so happy--_

The sound of crying reached his ears as he neared the hospital room. Knitting his brows together, he looked around. It couldn't be coming from Sasuke's room, no way. But…where was it coming from?

Feeling his heart pound a little faster, the boy quickened his pace. By the time he got near the doorway, he was running. _What happened…?_

Mikoto looked up just as her foster son entered the room. She dabbed at teary eyes with a tissue and smiled at him, "D-did you find anything?"

"Mmhmm," Naruto said, slowly depositing the gifts in an empty chair. He frowned and turned back to the crying woman, head cocked curiously. "What's wrong..?" His face was suddenly pale, those crystal blue orbs staring at her with an innocent understanding. "Teme's sicker than we thought, huh?" He asked, knowing the answer.

"Y-Yes, honey, Sasuke's sicker than we thought," she motioned for him to come to her, "But he'll be okay. I promise."

Naruto approached his foster mother, and she settled him into her lap just as she had done with both of her children when they were younger and wanted comfort. She knew that he needed her. He'd already watched his mother die, and now he had to witness what could quite possibly be the death of the youngest Uchiha.

"Sasuke has leukaemia. Do you know what that is?" The blonde shook his head. "Well…it's a form of cancer. It makes it harder for his blood to give him the stuff he needs. That's why he's so skinny and weak. Do you understand?"

Nodding, the little boy fiddled with Mikoto's sleeve. _Teme's dying…_? "Can we go see him?"

"Not yet." More tears slid down the mother's pale cheeks. It was agony for her, to know that her child might not live…Her heart broke when she looked down at Naruto, who was trying in earnest not to cry. Such a tough little guy. She pulled him closer and kissed his forehead. "Please don't worry, he'll be alright."

_That's what they all say_, Naruto thought, _but no one's ever alright…_

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Naruto was sleeping peacefully in his foster mother's lap when Itachi and Fugaku showed up, looking haggard and worried. They'd gotten the news as soon as Mikoto could get to a phone, and shortly thereafter hopped into a car for the long journey down to the hospital.

Itachi was quiet the entire time, digging his dark purple nails into the fabric of his jeans. He seemed to be in a sort of shock, refusing to accept that his little brother was ill. Not Sasuke. Not the kid who used to dump frogs into the toilet, not the kid whose first word was 'aniki' (Itachi still revelled in that moment). What about the healthy, perfectly normal otouto he'd grown up with? The one who yanked Itachi's hair as a toddler when he thought it was time to play. The one who would look up at him with those big, inky eyes and whine to be held? There was no way that Uchiha Sasuke could possibly be dying.

His mother was crying hysterically. "T-they said he has s-six months. Six months! And t-that's with c-chemo…."

The teen-aged Uchiha looked up as if her words had slapped him in the face, his mouth forming a small 'o', _Six months?!_

It was hard enough knowing that Sasuke was going to die. Now they'd given him the time of his execution like he was some slaughterhouse bull. Itachi's fists clenched a bit harder as he fought back the tears that wanted to fall. He had to be strong. For his mother's sake, for Sasuke, he had to be strong.

Fugaku was comforting his distraught wife, the lines on his face more pronounced than usual. He, like his eldest son, kept his cool, but grieved in his own way. Parents weren't supposed to bury their children, it was the other way around, and to say that he wasn't devastated would be a lie.

"W-what are we g-guh-going to do?" Mikoto sobbed, clinging to both Fugaku and Naruto, who was still asleep, "My little b-boy…"

"Let's just get through this one day at a time. He's not dead yet."

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Several hours later, the doctors had allowed Sasuke's family to visit him one by one. His mother had gone in first, her pretty face drawn with exhaustion and sorrow. Her child lay on the starched hospital bed, his pasty skin matching the colour of the sheets all too well.

"Hey, sweetie," she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm. IV tubes ran from the back of his hands and the inside of his elbows, pumping poison into his veins. Hopelessly she wondered which would kill him first--the chemo or the disease it was treating.

The ill child opened his eyes and smiled with cracked lips. "Hi, mom."

"How're you feeling? Better?" Mikoto smoothed down a few strands of hair from his forehead, doing her best to sound cheerful.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good." She smiled. "Your father and Itachi are here, too. We've missed you. Do you need anything?"

Sasuke shook his head. The room spun around him at breakneck speed, and he felt the familiar tingle of bile creeping up in his throat. "U-ulp! Mom…" He sat up and quickly motioned for her to grab the shallow pan on the floor by her chair. She held it in front him just before he vomited. Pale, thin fingers grabbed at either side of the mattress as he heaved, throwing up little more than foul-smelling acid.

It must have been painful, though, if his tears were any indication.

"Shhh, I know, honey…" Mikoto rubbed her youngest son's back, whispering into his ear until the storm of sickness had passed enough for him to lay down. There was nothing she could do for him, nothing. It was so devastating to know that the only comfort she could offer was a few soothing caresses and gentle words….Nothing to numb the pain, nothing to make his body well again.

The woman sighed and wrung her hands together, a distraught expression rupturing her pretty face. "Are you okay now? Would you like a drink?"

Her tiny child nodded weakly. She reached over to the large pitcher beside his bed and poured some water into a glass. "Here, sweetheart, sit up."

Sasuke did as he was told, but not without help. The Uchiha woman held the water to his lips, her free hand holding the back of his head like he was a newborn again. "Alright, drink slowly."

The raven-haired boy sipped the taste of vomit from his mouth a little at a time, the wonderfully cool liquid soothing his burning throat. When he'd finished, Mikoto sat the glass down and fluffed up his pillow, then tucked the sheets over his sickly frame.

"Is there anything else you want?" She asked, fussing around like a mother hen, "Are you warm enough? Do you want your window open?"

"No, mom, it's okay. Thanks though."

The pale woman smiled and combed her fingers through his dull hair, "Anything for you. I love you, honey."

"I love you too."

Mikoto got up and turned her back to the boy so he couldn't see the tears streaming down her face, "I-I'm going to send for Itachi now, okay?" She crossed the room and opened the door.

"Alright. And mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Please don't cry for me."

Unable to find the strength to speak, Mikoto stepped out into the hall, silent sobs wracking her entire body. She leaned against a wall and buried her face in her hands, letting sorrow and worry claim her whole being. _Sasuke's too young to die….! There's so much he hasn't done! It's a mother's instinct to want the best for her child, and I can't give it to him…Why did this happen?!_

She slid down to the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest, much like Naruto would ten years later when they lost him for good.

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

The first thing that Naruto could see when he walked into the brightly-lit room was all of the machines. They beeped and blinked at him with their strange artificial authority, the tubes attached pulsing as they administered medicine to the raven-haired boy lying on the bed.

Feeling anxious and scared, Naruto wrapped his arms tighter around the bear he was holding and crept up to his foster brother. "…Teme?"

Sasuke looked like a wax figure….There was no way something so ghostly pale could be living. His chest rose and fell in a laboured rhythm, adding to the melody of the devices crowded around him.

The blonde reached out to touch his face, but quickly snapped it back when Sasuke opened his eyes.

"Dobe, what do you want?" he asked, his hoarse voice cold and hard.

Naruto was losing his nerve, and fast. "I-I brought you something…to make you feel better…."He plopped the teddy into the Uchiha's lap and blushed, wanting nothing more than to run out of the sterile death-room.

The sick child picked up his gift and looked at it, his nose wrinkling. "It's stupid." He tossed the bear onto the floor. "You woke me up for…that?"

"I-I thought--"

"Shut up!"

"But…" Naruto glanced down at the discarded toy, anger and hurt welling up inside him, his voice confused, "I just wanted to help-"

"You can't help me with a stuffed animal, usuratonkachi! Che, what the hell's wrong with you?" the raven sneered, surprised at how cruel his own words were. Why was he so bitter…?

"Listen, Teme, I wanted to do something nice for you on account of you being sick and all, but if you're going to be so mean then I don't want you to have it!"

"Fine!" Sasuke snarled, "Take it! It's ugly anyway!"

The blonde snatched up the bear from its resting place on the cold floor and stormed out, jaw clenched so hard it made his head hurt.

_Why did he have to say those things….?_ Naruto sighed and hugged the toy to his chest. He'd been so proud of himself for finding it, and Mikoto had said that it was a wonderful gift, but that jerk just took one look and tossed it away like garbage!

He sniffled and rubbed at his dry eyes. Naruto didn't understand why Sasuke got so angry, they'd always been fine at home. Didn't mean their relationship was exactly smooth-sailing, but they simply ignored each other for the most part. But this fight, it was different. The little blonde's feelings actually got hurt this time, and he hated the dark grey cloud of disappointment that settled over his mind.

He hadn't expected the Uchiha to jump for joy or anything, but he had hoped for a smile, a thank-you, something! He felt so worthless for buying the stupid bear, for thinking that the raven would like it. Of course he wouldn't like it! Of course not!

Right then and there, Uzumaki Naruto vowed to prove to Sasuke that he wasn't as stupid and worthless as he thought. Nothing would bother him, nothing would break his smile anymore.

And from that point on, he considered his foster-brother-slash-enemy as a challenge, something he had to work for.

He wouldn't give up until he had Sasuke's friendship.

And he never did.

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Warm sunlight danced on the white walls, playing with the metallic sheen of the balloons by the bed. Sasuke was sitting cross-legged at the foot, a blue beanie covering his bald scalp. He'd only been in the hospital for a week, and already the chemo was taking its toll. Still, if it helped…

A small radio was playing on his nightstand, the tune an upbeat rock song that the boy didn't recognize or particularly like. Annoyed at the singer's voice, he gave a little huff and reached over to jab at the off button. Sweet silence.

…….Or so he thought, anyway.

"Teme!" A loud voice called from behind the closed door. Sasuke glared at it as if he could send the damn thing (and the person behind) into the fiery flaming pits of hell.

"Don't come in unless you've got a reason other than to annoy me."

A grinning blonde walked into the room carrying two trays of food. They teetered precariously in his stick-like arms, but somehow the idiot managed to balance them over to Sasuke's bed. "Look, I brought us breakfast!"

The chemo patient looked down at the tray that Naruto held out to him, not really in the mood to eat the bland, congealed oatmeal and artificial bacon. One sniff solidified his resolve, "Ughh, it smells like old lady sweat! This is gross, I'm not gonna eat something that I'm just going to throw up. Che, I bet it looks the same, too…." He shuddered and pushed his nasty breakfast away, back into the fox-boy's hands. "You eat it."

Naruto shook his head, straw-coloured locks swaying with the movement, "I've got my own, and you need to eat to get better. It doesn't taste as bad if you hold your nose like this." He pinched his nostrils together with his thumb and forefinger, then took a bite out of the rock-hard bacon.

The raven felt his stomach twist into itself at the thought of eating that yucky goo and strips of leather. There was no way in hell.

Finished with the strenuous task of chewing the fake meat, Naruto picked up a spoon, pulled out a huge blob of oatmeal, and held it in front of Sasuke's face. "Open wide!"

"Dobe, I'm not going to eat that--mmph!" Any further words were cut out as said dobe shoved the spoon into his foster brother's unguarded mouth. The lukewarm cereal had a consistency similar to snail-slime and tasted even worse than it smelled.

_I'm going to kill that moron..._

Revenge, unlike the horrible mass of sludge he was currently struggling to swallow, was best served cold.

Naruto happily spooned out another blob of the stuff and forced it into the raven's recovering mouth like a mother feeding her toddler baby food.

What a dobe.

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Sasuke's carefully-plotted revenge never came into play, because by that evening, he had suffered a major reaction to the chemotherapy(1). He'd thrown up every bit of the breakfast Naruto hand-fed him (as predicted, score one for the Uchiha's foresight), along with some sort of red fluid that he was too drugged up to recognize as blood.

Doctors swarmed around him, checking monitors and adjusting medication levels, their mouths frowning behind white masks. Naruto could see the look in their eyes as they bustled him out of the room, a look that made his heart stutter in his chest. He knew what it meant….They weren't trying to save him, they were just trying to make his death more comfortable. As if death was ever truly comfortable.

A female doctor took the blonde's tiny hand in hers and led him to another room, one with red and yellow walls and a cheery atmosphere. The girl from before, Hinata, sat at a small table and worked quietly on a jigsaw puzzle, apparently not noticing the two people who had entered her space. Naruto wanted to wrench his hand away, to run back to his room-mate, but he didn't. He'd only be in the way.

The woman holding onto him knelt down to his eye level, chocolate orbs staring into his with a soft calmness. "What's your name, sweetie?" She asked, her huge breasts pressing against the buttons on her white blouse.

"Naruto. Is Sasu-teme gonna be okay?" The worry on that innocent face seemed to engulf the tiny boy like a black flame, casting poisonous shadows across his tanned skin.

Like any good doctor, the well-endowed woman avoided the eight-year-old's question. If she said yes and Sasuke died, the kid would be devastated. If she said no, he'd still be devastated and most likely cause a scene. It was hard to choose the lesser of two evils when a child's heart was at stake.

"My name is Tsunade," she said, trying to pull Naruto's mind away from his friend-slash-rival's sickness, "And my job is to play with kids like you when they're waiting for someone to get better. I'd like to be friends, if you're okay with that."

Knitting his brows together, the boy nodded hesitantly. _What about Teme…? _

Tsunade smiled and ruffled his yellow locks, "Good. You seem like a nice kid. Do you want to work on the puzzle with Hinata and I?"

Naruto wanted to say no, to tell her that he wasn't in the mood to do her stinking puzzle, that he wanted to go back, but he couldn't find the words. He just nodded again and followed her over to the table.

(Come. Fly. With. Me.)

Somehow, Sasuke had made it through his darkest hour and emerged with signs of improvement. His mother had been so relieved when he opened his eyes that she broke down and cried a new set of tears on top of the ones that were continually forming streaks along her skin. Both Itachi and Fugaku were there beside his bed, watching as Mikoto once again turned into a pile of emotional goo.

"'mm okay now, Mom," the little boy told her, feeling guilty that he'd made her cry so much.

"I-I know…I'm j-juh-just so happy…" She sobbed, smiling through the shimmering droplets.

Without warning, Naruto burst into the room and ran up to the foot of the bed, almost knocking the breath from his own lungs as the metal railing caught him around the middle. "Ooof! Sasuke!"

The three healthy Uchiha's heads snapped to look at the panting blonde, wondering: a) where in the hell he suddenly came from, b) when in the hell he started referring to Sasuke by his actual name instead of Teme, and, in the case of Itachi and Fugaku, when the _fuck_ he started talking.

Sasuke's left eye twitched at his foster brother's idiocy, but he didn't seem as irritated with him as he'd been the previous week. Maybe it was the pain meds.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" The stupid kid grinned like a retard and shoved something into his lap.

That damned teddy bear. That stupid, absurdly cute fucking teddy bear. Sasuke would never have admitted it, but he'd wanted that dumb thing. Even when he'd said it was ugly, he wanted it just because…Because what…? Holding it now in his frail hands, the raven looked questioningly at its giver, "….You…..kept this, dobe?"

"Yup! I don't care if you don't want it," Naruto stated, "Cause I'll just keep giving it to you over and over until you keep it."

"…Thanks."

And so began the two boys' bond, adding more ties to the ribbon connecting their hearts as the years progressed until they were like one single entity, their intense love lasting when most other relationships fizzled out.

(Come. Fly.With.Me)

_**Holy crap. Twelve pages. In like three freaking days. You guys better love me for this. But I did say I'd make up for my short chapters, so hopefully this does the trick? And yes, Mikoto's a crybaby. I do what I want. Besides, I'd be like that too if my kid was dying. Have a heart, you bastard.**_

_**(1) I have no clue if that can even happen. XD I don't pretend to know about leukemia, I just write what sounds good.**_

_**Coming up next chapter: Sasuke gets some news that shakes him to the core, and Naruto learns of a friend's death.**_

_**Until next time!**_


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